The Choice
by Girl-Detective
Summary: Movieverse. Alan disappears while coming back from a supply run to Thunderbird Five. Is it an accident, or is it an act of revenge?
1. An Enemy Returns

_Hello, my pen name is Girl-Detective. My style is in my profile, I am an action junkie all the way. This may doom me to failure, but this is my first fic ever after sitting back and reading them for so long here. I ask for no leniency for that fact, just some constructive criticism so I can learn the ropes._

_**The Choice**_  
by Girl-Detective

_**Chapter One**_ - _An Enemy Returns_

In a specially sealed room on the third floor of the London prison, the Hood sat and meditated.

There wasn't much else to do, everything was provided to him via robot or robotic arm. The guards had known to keep their distance. International Rescue had apprised them of his powers so there was a general feeling of fear from what little bit he could gleam.

He thought over the events of the past month, and he was amazed that only a month had passed.  
The plan was perfect. To steal the Thunderbird machines and break into the major banks of the world, that took genius.

He even thought he had Alan completely at his mercy, until the girl showed up. Those two caused him to be in jail for the first time since he donned his 'Hood' persona, and that just wouldn't do.

Figures that it would have been a son of a Tracy that brought him down. He made a promise that he would see Jeff again, and he racked his brains to figure out a way to make Jeff suffer during their next encounter.

_There must be a way, there must._

It was then that he remembered what day it was.

With a secret smile, the Hood concentrated intently on his meditation, clearing his mind for what was to come. He would have his revenge on Jeff by killing Alan, and If any of the rest of the family wanted to follow suit he would gladly kill them as well.

It was the perfect plan.

* * *

Alan Tracy ran a hand through his hair and studied the floating textbook in front of him. Ever since his dad had finally relented and allowed him flight status as a genuine Thunderbird, he thought life couldn't get any better.

Instead, for the better part of the month, he had been relegated to making supply runs to the Thunderbird Five space station, learning the finer points of the Station's operation from his brother John, and catching up on his studies in-between.

So, at least for an hour, Alan found the silence of the anti-gravity room on Thunderbird Five a safe haven as he floated along with his physics book. By some perverse luck of the draw, it was decided that his father would do the actual tutoring of this subject, so there was no way he could shirk these studies even if he wanted to. A buzzer cut then into his thoughts, followed by his brother's voice. "Hate to kick you out, little brother, but father needs those supplies on the ground ASAP."

With a sigh, Alan grabbed for a ring tethered to one of the walls as his brother John slowly brought gravity back to the small room. His body slowly crept downward until his feet touched the deck. His physics book followed his same path.

* * *

A half hour later, John Tracy met up with Alan near the docking ring port for Thunderbird Three.

"The supplies has been loaded, Alan. Oh, Lady Penelope sends her regards and wonders if you would be so kind as to make a run to her estate to pick up Tin-Tin. She's through with her nature studies there and was hoping for a lift back to the island."

Alan smiled. "Should be no problem. Any excuse to delay my physics test is a good one."

John laughed and pushed Alan towards the door. "Better you than me, little brother. I have been through enough of dad's 'tests' to know, trust me. Just do me a favor and notify Parker before you land at Lady Penelope's this time? I swear I thought the poor guy was going to have a heart attack the last time you swooped in."

Alan laughed. "Yeah his expression was priceless and-" He stopped laughing when John's expression grew stern. "Okay, Okay. I will be good, promise. FAB. I am on my way back."

John simply smiled and shook his head as Alan opened the cargo door and entered the short walkway leading to Thunderbird Three.

_Kids today._

He made his way back to the control room. There were one or two reports that his father had requested, then he needed to test the Anti-Missile lasers that Brains had installed on his trip to the station a week ago to finish off the last remaining repairs to Thunderbird Five.

No need for a repeat attack like the one he had endured when The Hood targeted the station.

John shuddered slightly at the memory, then headed towards the control room.

* * *

_Four hours later-_

John was tired, but at least his work was done for now. He transmitted his reports, and the lasers tested without a hitch. Anyone targeting Thunderbird Five with missiles were going to be sadly disappointed when the lasers would pick off anything within a thousand meters of the station.

He stretched and was about to raid his food rations, when an urgent red light blared to life on his comm panel. When he flicked the switch, a familiar voice sounded urgently through the control room.

"Thunderbird Five come in. John come in, please."

He hit the button on the control panel. "This is Thunderbird Five. What's up Tin-Tin? Where's Alan?"

"That's what I would like to know. He was due to pick me up three hours ago and he hasn't shown up here at Lady Penelope's estate yet. Alan knew to come here, right?"

"Of course, Tin-Tin, in fact he was looking forward to picking you up from there. Standby and I will check this out, okay?"

A weary sigh came over the line. "I am not angry so much as worried. Let me know when you have found something out so I will know whether to kill him or not."

"FAB" John replied curtly. He cut the transmission, then activated the scanners.

Each of the vehicles they used had their own unique trace signature, so in theory he should be able to pick up on Thunderbird Three easily. However, John swore softly as each of the scans turned up negative. The ship was nowhere in the immediate area, nor in or around any discernable place on Earth. There was only one place left to check and it was the one place it could evade scanners.

He didn't want to alarm his father unduly. After all, things were finally getting back to a normal routine after The Hood's failed attempt to rob the world's banks and trying to smear the International Rescue name in the process.

This however could not be ignored.

With a thought and a silent prayer, John opened a comm channel. "Thunderbird Five to Tracy Island, come in please."

The screen in front of him blared to life as he saw the familiar figure of his father take a seat.

"John, good to hear from you. The reports came through all right, what's up?"

_Here goes nothing._ "Dad, please tell me that Alan and Thunderbird Three are there."

He watched as his father frowned slightly. "Hmm, I didn't hear Alan come in. Let me check the silo."

John watched as his father quickly typed out some commands on a nearby keyboard. "No, Thunderbird Three is not in it's silo. What's going on, John?"

John's voice filled with dread. "Dad, I can't find him anywhere. He was supposed to pick up Tin-Tin from Lady Penelope's estate over three hours ago, and I just got notification that he never made it. I did a complete scan for Thunderbird Three's signature and nothing. He's completely disappeared."

* * *

Jeff Tracy wasn't normally one to be alarmed. He had ridden out tough challenges as an astronaut and even survived near death after the attack on Thunderbird Five.

Over the past two weeks, Alan had proven to be an adept pilot, and only needed one or two lessons from him in order to solo in Thunderbird 3. Jeff was confident that Alan knew how to handle himself.

But where in Heaven's name was he?

"John, I will send Scott and Virgil out in a search pattern for him. He couldn't have disappeared off the map. Even if he had crashed, the signature from the ship should still be something that we can pick up. Don't worry, we'll find him. Stay on the scanners just in case."

"FAB, dad."

Jeff ended transmission, then contemplated the situation. He knew John was right about the scanners; Jeff had personally overseen the design phase of them with Brains. He wanted Thunderbird Five to be able to track any of their craft in order to help them get to the scene of rescues faster, among tracking in case one vehicle got damaged. However, that still didn't explain a whole craft disappearing.

He turned on the TV to catch the news. He had been busy in the lab with Brains for the last twenty-four hours, so he wanted to see what was going on.

Jeff caught the last snatches of a special report and the sight of people in a courtroom being carried out in stretchers.

"-luckily no one was seriously injured, apparently the only intent of The Hood was to escape without being followed-"

The Hood? With a feeling of dread, Jeff stabbed at the volume button to make sure that he had heard right. The report was quickly repeated.

"Again if you are just tuning in, the evil mastermind known as 'The Hood' escaped a London courtroom yesterday by using his incredible mind powers to keep everyone unconscious for hours while he made his escape. Luckily no one was seriously injured, apparently the only intent of The Hood was to escape without being followed by the police or other authorities. London police are on the hunt now for-"

With a muttered curse, he turned off the TV. He told them, WARNED them that this might happen. No one knew the extent of what The Hood could do with his mind. Alan managed to wear him down enough to where Tin-Tin could counterattack him that fateful day, but it nearly cost Alan his life.

Jeff flicked a switch on his comm panel. "Boys, I need you to report in. NOW."

Four of the five photos along the far wall flared to life with video feeds of four of his sons.

"Scott reporting in."

"Virgil reporting in."

"Gordon reporting in."

"John reporting in. Dad, have you found out anything more about Alan?"

John's simple question set his other sons to chattering:

"Dad what's going on?"

"What did John mean?"

"Where's Alan?"

Jeff raised a hand. "Hold it, hold it. We can't panic, not yet."

His satellite phone started trilling incessantly from its resting place on the table. He quickly snatched it up to answer it.

"Jeff Tracy here."

The familiar taunting voice grated against his ears.

"I promised myself that I would see you again, Jeff."

Jeff noticed that his sons grew quiet. He mouthed 'The Hood' to them before he replied. "What do you want?"

"Are you missing a son, by chance? Blond hair, blue eyes, answers to the name of Alan?"

Anger flooded his emotions. "You evil, sadistic-"

"Tut, tut, Jeff. Anger doth become you. I suppose now you want proof."

The phone connection cut out, then the last unlit screen on the wall blared to life.

There in the screen Alan sat in what looked like a dark damp cave. He looked to be unconscious, his hands bound high on the wall around what looked like a clamp. He was still dressed in his flight suit, and a slight trickle of blood ran down one side of his face.

"ALAN!"

The picture wavered for a moment then turned around to a view of The Hood.

"Jeff, these video communicators are a marvel. I mean small enough to fit on a wrist. Of course Alan didn't mind me borrowing his, but do they come in black?"

What little reason Jeff had snapped. He stood and walked closer to the five screens.

"You want something, otherwise you wouldn't have called here. Be warned though: If you kill my son, I will make sure that there is no place on this Earth that you can hide from me, and I will personally hunt you down myself."

Laughter greeted his declaration. "My, my, Your perception is right on the nose, but don't worry- your son is safe for now. What I propose is simple: A life for a life. In twenty-four hours time a ship under my control will reach your island. You are to board it and it will bring you to me. Once I determine that you are on board, Alan will be released. Oh, and feel free to search for me during those twenty-four hours, I am quite sure that you will not find any signs of us whatsoever. Goodbye."

"Wait!" Jeff shouted, but the image on the screen faded out.

The sound of his sons voices surrounded him once again.

"Dad, we can't let him get away with that."

"He won't keep his word."

It was Scott who finally broke the noise. "Whoa, hold it! It is our father's choice. He needs to decide."

Jeff leaned against the smooth screen where he had seen Alan only a moment before. It wasn't fair, but yet each of his sons knew the risk of working under the strictest privacy. It looked like The Hood was holding all the cards at the moment, but Jeff wasn't going to take that lying down.

"Gordon, Scott, come back here on the double. Virgil, I need for you to pick up Tin-tin from England and bring her back to the island on the double. Go ahead and advise Lady Penelope what happened, her services may come in handy. John, stay on those scanners. The Hood has to have some type of cloaking device. Search for any strange anomalies along with your regular scans. We will continue to field any rescue calls as they come in. Now let's get to it."

His sons raised their voices unanimously. "FAB"

Each of their images winked out one by one, until the control room grew quiet once again.

Jeff walked back over to his chair, and sat down wearily. Grudges were a terrible thing to fight against, but he had the beginnings of a desperate plan forming in his mind.

He just hoped that all of the pieces would be in place in time, or he would be forced to make the choice his foe put forth.

Oh Jeff had no doubt, he would face the Hood again, one way or another- but he wanted that meeting to be on HIS terms.

* * *

Alan's head hurt, there was no doubt about that. He opened his eyes slowly, and winced at the throbbing pain his brain greeted him with.

He rewound the day - the last thing he remembered was adjusting his course in Thunderbird Three so that he could pick up Tin-Tin, and then...nothing.

"Ah Alan, wondering where the day has gone?"

He jerked his gaze up, making his head throb even more. The voice was familiar, but it couldn't be him-

"Oh but it can, Alan. I have returned, and with your help, I will have revenge on you and your father."

Alan struggled against his bonds. "How did you escape custody, Hood?"

His eyes finally focused as he saw the familiar figure stalk towards him. "It was simple enough. After all, I had to have my day in court, right?"

"My family will stop you," Alan spat out. "They will end your bid for petty revenge."

"Petty? Did you say petty?" his captor asked. "Was it petty when I had to watch my brother being rescued and I laid broken and helpless under tons of rubble? Was it petty that your father chose who he wanted to rescue?"

"Oh please, spare me," Alan retorted, "I found out much about your 'diamond mine' and about how you conned innocent villagers into working in the mines for next to nothing. Your brother told us about the whole thing. The conditions were so bad there that dad couldn't rescue everyone before additional cave-ins made it impossible. Many of those villagers died, thanks to you, so I think you are the one who should have something on their conc-aargh"

Alan's last words were cut off as The Hood knocked him out with a mere thought.

"There. I think you are better off quiet. Besides, I have a lot to prepare for. Rest up Alan, cause you are going to need it."


	2. A deadline looms

_When we last left the action, Alan was in the clutches of the Hood, and Jeff was presented an ultimatum by The Hood- his life for Alan's. It's t__ime for Chapter 2._

_**The Choice  
**_by Girl-Detective

_**Chapter 2**_ - _A Deadline Looms..._

_Twenty hours until deadline_ -

The scene in the control room was a quiet one.

Scott and Gordon sat side by side on the sofa. On the far wall John's screen was lit, showing him bent over the scanner instrument panel in deep concentration.

Virgil entered with Tin-Tin in tow. "We're back- hey, where's dad?"

"He went over to Brain's lab to come up with some ideas," Scott replied tensely. "He's really feeling the pressure on this one."

"We all are, Scott," Gordon retorted, "As much as he's annoying, Alan proved himself in the simulator along with outscoring you and me during the in-flight training I took him on. The supply runs to Thunderbird Five were dad's way of letting him test out Thunderbird Three, to see if he wanted to stick with it. There shouldn't have been any danger."

"Guys, cool it," Virgil intoned, "None of this will help us or Alan on this one. We've been in harms way more than once, this isn't new."

"Yeah, but at least we knew the risks going into some of those accident scenes," Gordon insisted. "Who knows what Alan is going through right now?"

Tin-Tin couldn't take much more of this talk. "Stop it! Stop it! Virgil's right, you are not helping anyone by sitting here and moping about this. The Hood may very well be the biggest thing you guys have faced so far, but with the right plan-"

Jeff Tracy entered the control room, finishing her sentence. "-Which I think I have."

Scott stood. "You are not going to turn yourself over to the Hood, are you father?"

"No, or at least, that is my last ditch option. John, any status report on the scans?"

He watched as his son looked at him with a tired gaze. "Nothing yet, Dad. I did find something that was bothering me, but I couldn't quite isolate it."

Jeff shook his head. "That's because you haven't taken your regular sleep shift yet, have you? John, working yourself to the bone is not going to get Alan back. I need you in good shape so we can figure out what those scans mean."

John sighed in resignation. "I will forward my readings to Brains, maybe he can make sense of them. I will catch a few winks, but I will be back in an hour or so. Thunderbird Five out."

Before Jeff could protest, John had cut the transmission. Normal sleep shifts for anyone on Thunderbird Five were normally four to six hours, but he could understand where John was coming from. Since he was the last one to see Alan off, he was feeling guilty right now.

He turned his attention to the rest of his sons and Tin-Tin. "Now I know the rest of you are worried about Alan, but I need all of your heads clear. If we are to pull off this rescue, we are going to need timing, focus, and teamwork. Are you with me?"

Jeff looked around as he saw his sons nod. He turned to Tin-Tin. "I will need your help as well. Your power was able to beat back your Uncle."

"That was only because Alan had worn him down, Mr. Tracy. Even the little bit I had done took all the strength that I had," she protested.

Jeff put a hand on her shoulder. "But maybe you can help me understand this power that is in your family. Any little bit of information can help me if I have to face him alone."

Tin-Tin nodded. "I will do my best to help."

"Good girl." Jeff then turned to the whole group. "Okay, let's get our plans in motion."

* * *

Ten_ hours to deadline_-

Alan awoke once again, but this time he found himself alone. It took him a few moments, but he managed to make out the features of the cave he was in. He seemed to be in a dimly lit passage, and the only thing that seemed to be contrasting from the dark stone walls was dim light coming from two torches flanking either side of him. A large rectangle of light shone from the entrance at the far end of the passage.

He then turned his attention to his bonds. It looked like The Hood had bound his wrists tightly, then had looped the rope through a clamp attached to the wall. If only he could get the clamp to release-

"Naughty Alan. I can't leave you alone for a moment, now can I?"

A wave of pain tore through Alan's mind, knocking the breath out of him.

"Hurts? It should. I have grown stronger since you have seen me last."

"Everyone has their limits, Hood," Alan ground out as the pain in his head subsided.

The Hood walked into his sights. "Do they? Well, limits are made to be broken. You've probably recognized that we are in a cave. This cave is where it all began for me, Alan. The diamond discovery, the mine, the cave-in. For you, it will be where it ends. We are in the only accessible passage. Once I leave here, I will seal you in using the force of the Thunderbird 3 engines. You will run out of Oxygen in a few hours, and you will die."

"It'll never work," Alan retorted.

The Hood smiled and waggled a finger at him. "And yet, I think it will, for I know what drives International Rescue. A disaster happens and what do people do? They call their Rescuers. Your brothers will go out, but your father...he will stay behind so he doesn't miss his meeting with me. The brother's Tracy will be snared by my deathtrap and-well, it won't matter anyway. You wont be living long enough to care."

Alan fumed as he watched The Hood turn and head down the corridor towards the entrance and make his way outside.

The Hood sent Alan a parting message thru his mind. "Goodbye Alan. We will not be meeting again."

After a few moments when everything was still, he resumed working on the clamp that held his bonds. If what The Hood said was true, he would be boarding Thunderbird Three right about now. That meant Alan had no time to waste, if he didn't want to get trapped in there.

For precious minutes his numb fingers scrambled frantically, but the clamp would not budge. The Hood had not bothered to bind his feet, so Alan scrambled to his knees and turned around, trying to get a better advantage - and that was when he felt the vibration and a loud roar from outside.

_I'm too late._

Alan's world shuddered violently. The torches fell from their positions on the wall, the flame from them quickly disappearing. Bits of rock rained down on his head and then all was silent as the vibrations and the noise leveled off. The end of the corridor where he had seen the entrance was obscured with a ton of rubble.

Thunderbird Three had left, and he was trapped in the dark.

* * *

_Five hours to deadline_-

Jeff Tracy sat alone in the control room. He wanted to be out looking for his son, but he couldn't chance missing something important from Brains or John.

Scott and Virgil wanted to go on a few recon flights and do scans from their vantage point, so they took off in Thunderbird Two some time ago. Gordon went to check on Brains progress.

"Thunderbird Five to Tracy island, come in."

He punched the comm button quickly. "What do you have for me John?"

"Not what you wanted I am afraid. Picked up a distress call on one of the open channels. There was a major meltdown in Antarctica. One of the ice mountains near a major scientific camp is breaking apart and threatening to obliterate the scientists there off the map."

Jeff sighed. The call couldn't have come at a worse time. "Thanks for the info, John."

"I'll stay on those scans, dad. Thunderbird Five out."

Jeff then opened a comm channel. "Thunderbird Two, come in."

It took a few moments, but Virgil finally replied. "This is Thunderbird Two."

"Virgil, I need you boys to get to Antarctica straight away. There is a scientific camp there that is being treatened by an avalanche from a looming ice mountain that is falling apart."

Jeff heard a long pause. "Right dad, FAB."

* * *

_Hello, it's me again. I appreciate all of the reviews and replies. I am going to be tweaking chapter one a bit, but strictly for grammar's sake. Microsoft's spell and grammar checks can only go so far, I fear. Chapter Three should be in the bag in about three-four days time._

_Take Care,_

_Girl-Detective_


	3. Arctic Trap

_**Things are heating up**: Alan is trapped in the last remnants of the former diamond mine, The Hood has possession of Thunderbird Three, Jeff has ordered Thunderbird 2 to a distress call in Antarctica, and there is less than five hours left before Jeff has to meet up with The Hood._

_Time for part three._

_**The Choice**_  
by Girl-Detective

_Chapter Three_ - _**Arctic Trap**_

F_our hours till deadline_-

Scott sat in the co-pilot seat of Thunderbird Two, and was studying the readings coming through the sensors when he heard Virgil acknowledge a transmission by their father.

A few moments later, he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Wrap up what you have, Scott. We've got a distress call in Antarctica that we need to attend to."

He swore softly. "There's timing for you. What's going on there?"

"Avalanche," Virgil replied simply. "I'm contacting John for the coordinates now. There's supposed to be a scientific camp there being threatened, so we will probably be called on to do some evacuating."

Scott nodded. "Right. We better get to it then. Is Gordon going to join us?"

"Dad didn't say," Virgil replied, "so for now it's just us."

* * *

After a few hours of work and feeling around in the dark, Alan had managed to free himself from his bonds, but that had taken quite a bit of effort and gouged skin in the process.

He then tried feeling around where he remembered the entrance to be, but when he began to dig the rubble shifted, allowing rocks of various sizes to come at him. He managed to avoid most of them, but a large rock penetrated his defenses, striking a glancing blow against the side of his head that left him reeling.

Crawling and feeling his way back over to where he had started from, Alan rested for a few moments. His pounding head wasn't allowing him to do much in the way of thinking, but he did check his flight suit again for the umpteenth time for anything the Hood might have missed.

Nothing. The Hood even took his International Rescue badge. Heh, he had thought of everything it seemed.

The darkness wasn't helping either. Alan had felt his eyes close more than once, and he struggled to stay awake.

He shuddered as he thought of his family walking into the trap that the Hood had told him about. The Hood seemed to be more powerful than ever before and-

_Stop it._ He told himself. _T__his isn't helping you or them at all_.

Alan pulled himself into a sitting position, leaned his back against the cool stone wall behind him, and settled in to wait.

Help would come. He just had to keep believing that.

* * *

After apprising Virgil of the coordinates of the distress call in Antarctica, John turned his attention back to the scans. He had printed out scans of the time frame just as Alan left Thunderbird Five to just after the time Tin-Tin had notified him of Alan's disappearance.

As he had told his father hours ago, something wasn't right about them. Using their data,  
he was able to determine that Thunderbird Five was able to track Alan as far as five thousand meters from the station, and then, nothing. Well, almost nothing at any rate.

There seemed to be a low level noise on the scans that was barely noticeable. It wasn't any normal noise that he could recognize, but that was the reason he had forwarded a copy of those scans to Brains. He opened a comm channel.

"Brains, come in, this is Thunderbird Five."

An image of Brain's lab appeared on his screen, but the man in question was not in sight.

"Brains, are you there?"

From the lab, he heard a loud thump followed by low muttering. Brains then appeared from under his work counter, rubbing his head gingerly.

"I'm here. Was just p-picking up a tool that fell under the table. W-What's happening?"

"Were you able to make any sense of those scans I sent you?" John asked.

Brains leaned over, and picked up a small stack of printouts near the corner of his lab table.

"I took a look at them, and I noticed the low level d-distortion on the charts that you noticed. It didn't s-seem to be any normal space noise."

John sighed. "That confirmed what I was thinking, but is there anything else that they are similar to?"

Brains thought for a moment. "W-well, they do look a bit like br-bra-brain waves."

John gave him a skeptical look. "Brain waves?"

Brains launched into an explanation. "Yes, brain waves. Different states of the brain can be m-mapped using Electroencephalography. The different types of brainwaves observed are labeled with Greek l-letters. This distortion looks like a Beta wave."

John wasn't buying the explanation. "Well, even if it is a brainwave, how can they be strong enough to reach out into space? The Hood couldn't have had that much influence, surely. He would have to have an amplifier or transmitter of some sort, wouldn't he?"

Brains nodded. "That is possible. If you have a transmitter small enough or-"

John noticed him trailing off " Or what? What's wrong Brains? You look as white as a ghost."

He saw Brains stare at a device he had positioned on his table nearby.

"I have to check s-something."

Brains quickly grabbed a nearby Satellite phone and punched in a number.

"Millington? T-This is Professor Hackenbacker. Has anything s-strange happened to my neural net control p-project?"

John noticed that the reply Brains got from the other end was not encouraging.

"T-thank you for the information. I-I'll be in touch."

Brains allowed the phone to drop to the counter, and he turned and ran out of the lab.

Astonished, John shouted after him. "Brains, where are you going?"

* * *

Brains had only one mission in mind. He had felt like a fool for not seeing it earlier, but John's comment had sparked a memory about his latest invention, the neural net control device. He was developing it with the help of his friend Professor Millington, who was one of his old school buddies.

Brains had finally perfected it just after the failed takeover attempt of Tracy Island by the Hood. It was to amplify brainwaves and focus them with such intensity that the wearer could very well manipulate almost anything with their mind. The main purpose was to help with construction, cutting the need for massive machines, but he also foresaw pilots being able to intelligently controlling their craft from a remote location, without having to rely on the crude simplicity of auto pilot. It had definitely come a long way from what he had shown his son Fermat during the spring break he came to visit.

When Brains called friend and found out that a man matching the Hood's description had stolen a full working prototype of his device, it all fit. A power like the Hood's amplified by that machine could feasibly produce the distortion they saw on the scans, and that in turn cloaked Thunderbird Three and allowed the Hood to take control.

He rushed through the complex with such speed that it was a miracle that he didn't fall flat on his face.

When Brains reached the control room, he found Jeff poring over some reports.

He was out of breath, and his stuttering became more of a hindrance. "J-Jeff, I-I-"

Jeff got to his feet in concern. "Brains, what is it?"

He was still catching his breath when Jeff came over and directed him to sit down on the sofa. "There. Now I need for you to calm down, Brains, and tell me what's going on."

Brains told him everything that he had found out so far.

Jeff didn't like what he was hearing. "So you are saying that with this device, it can amplify the Hood's power?"

Brains nodded simply.

Worried now, Jeff quickly went over and sat down in front of his control panel. "I need to call Thunderbird Two then. If the Hood used the control device to control and cloak Thunderbird Three, then we have a very dangerous enemy in the sky."

He activated a communications channel. "Thunderbird Two do you read me?"

Jeff waited for a reply, but all he received was static. "Something's not right here."

He made a few adjustments, and then tried again, with the unfortunate same result.

Jeff then changed tactics. "Thunderbird Five come in."

The familiar sight of the space station came to life on screen on the wall, along with a very worried John. "Dad, what's going on? I was talking with Brains in one moment, and the next he dashes off on me, then I tried reaching Thunderbird Two, but I am getting nothing but distortion. There are no discernable storms in Antarctica right now that can be interfering with communications. Are Scott and Virgil in trouble?"

Jeff slumped back in his chair. _Oh God, I sent them into a trap_.

* * *

Thunderbird Two closed in on the coordinates where the distress call came from, and strangely all was quiet, and the tall mountains of ice surrounding the scientific camp seemed to be intact.

"Sensors read normal," Scott mused as he read from the instrument panel, "I am not reading any seismic activity or any phenomenon that could move that ice. I don't understand it."

"It does seem like a wild goose chase," Virgil agreed, "but it does look like that camp is inhabited. I saw some movement down there."

Scott looked out the cockpit window and sure enough, he saw a few heavily clothed individuals scurrying around the encampment.

Virgil glanced at Scott. "Something isn't right here. I am going to call John and see what's up."

Scott continued to visually scan the landscape as Virgil tried to hail Thunderbird Five.

"Thunderbird Five, come in. John, do you read us?"

Static was the only thing that greeted their ears.

"Try dad," Scott urged.

Virgil made a few adjustments and tried to contact their father, again with the same static as before.

"It's no good, it is as if we are being jammed," Virgil groaned in frustration.

It was then that a familiar malevolent voice sounded through both of their heads.

"Hello, boys. This is the Hood. I do hope you like my trap, because you will not be escaping from it."

* * *

_I took creative license with one of the items in the movie. The neural net control device has a lot of potential, in my opinion, and not just for a clever sight gag like they used it for. I figured it would be feasible that the Hood found out about it one way or another, and probably figured that would be easier to get and use than free his jailed lackeys, Mullion and Transom. (or at least, I hoped I made it sound feasible.)_

_Again I really appreciate the reviews. You guys have made me feel welcome here and have provided some valuable feedback, and I appreciate that. Due to some nastiness going on in my life, the next chapter will not be out for about another week to week and a half._

_Hope to see you then,_

_Girl-Detective_


	4. Interlude Of Time and Risks

_**The Choice**_  
by Girl-Detective

_**Interlude**_- _Of Life and Risks_

He didn't know what time it was.

It wouldn't have mattered. The darkness made it tough to see anything anyway, let alone a watch. His wrists still burned from the escape from his bonds, no doubt by dirt that had gotten ground into his broken skin when he tried digging his way out. At least the pounding pain the errant boulder had caused him had subsided to a dull ache.

Alan took a breath and nearly choked. The air was growing stale, making it harder to breathe. Just another problem to add to his growing list.

And to top it all off, The Hood had taken every gadget from Alan when he abandoned him in this cave to die.

He shuddered. That was the first time he thought about the D word since he was trapped by the Hood in the remnants of the old diamond mine.

Sitting and leaning his weary body heavily against the cave wall, Alan pondered his life.

The funniest thing about it all was that regret was not on his mind. His father had drilled into him the possible risks he would run into if he chose to get into "the family business. Alan knew it could very well come to a scenario like this one to test his patience, stamina, and everything else that he had ever learned.

Even after he was instrumental in helping to capture the Hood, his family was slow to accept what he wanted to become. After all was said and done, his father had praised him in one breath, and then the next, he accused him of being reckless. Apparently he had talked to Fermat and Tin-Tin and had learned about the events that had transpired in the jungle. If he was going to be a part of this team, he had to learn, and grow. Recklessness wasn't going to be tolerated, his dad had told him, all that he asked was that Alan learned to think smarter and work harder, and he would provide the rest.

Sure enough, his dad was true to his word. He made arrangements at the academy to where Alan would still go for a good portion of his classes, but as for the arts and the sciences, Alan received that tutelage directly from his family. It made him almost long for school, because between his father and his brothers, they challenged him more than the Academy ever had. As long as his grades showed improvement, he would be allowed to continue with International Rescue.

Soon enough, Alan was whisked into a hectic schedule of classes, training, and even the flight testing and training that he was so eager to get over with so that he could prove himself to his family. If it hadn't been for Tin-Tin's constant encouragement along with informal tutoring with Fermat via vid-link every night, he probably would have gone crazy from the pressure.

The opportunity came when the flights started to bring necessary parts and make crucial repairs to Thunderbird Five. His dad decided to turn four of those trips into his test. He would be given the controls, and Gordon and his dad would each ride along and monitor two of those trips.

Brains had modified the craft to where if it was being used for supply runs or simple missions, then the controls would be centralized all to one control panel, thus allowing one pilot to man the craft.

In the days leading up to his testing, Alan studied Thunderbird Three intently, even putting in time with a flight simulator computer program that Brains had designed. Tin-Tin had accused him of having a chip on his shoulder, but he didn't care. If he was going to prove himself, then it would be worth it.

However, it was interesting what one could hear when no one thinks you are listening...

_-He sat in the cockpit of Thunderbird 3 the day before the testing, studying the modified controls Brains had implemented. Between the planning the repairs to Thunderbird 5 and the modifications to Thunderbird 3, he was an extremely busy scientist. However, after a little pleading, Brains had allowed him into the cockpit do some studying._

_Propulsion, check. Guidance systems check. So far, he was able to follow the modifications with ease. Brains' designs throughout all of the Thunderbird craft were quite consistent, which was a big help in helping him learn the controls of Thunderbird 3._

_Over on the side panel, he noticed the communication controls, and decided to play with them. As long as he wasn't starting up the ship, what trouble could he possibly get into?_

_As he flicked one of the switches, he heard the ambient noise of the silo come through the speakers,  
and then footsteps and voices._

_"Dad, are you sure you want to test him this quickly?"_

_"Gordon, I am sure. With the increased among of rescues we go on, along with people like the Hood that are out there, I want to make sure Alan knows what he is asking for. Thunderbird 3 is one of the more intricate ships out of all the ones that Brains has built, even with the modified controls. If he can prove to me that he can fly it without a hitch, then I will feel good about letting him continue training and letting him go solo. With all of the repairs that Thunderbird 5 is going to need, along with any rescue calls we may receive, we are going to need all the help we can get."_

_"But what if he can't hack it, dad? I snuck a look at his last report card- his grades are improving, but they still aren't all that stellar."_

_He heard his father chuckle. "I also seem to remember someone else whose grades were not stellar at that part of their lives either, Gordon. But you are right, if he can't handle flying Thunderbird Three, then I will send him back to school until he learns to focus. This is all about helping people, it is not about grandstanding or acting reckless. I am sure we will see what he is made of soon enough."-_

Alan remembered leaving the cockpit that day in anger. His father seemed willing to give him a fair shake, but Gordon didn't beleive in him, that much seemed evident.

However, when he went to confront Gordon about it, he got a much different reaction.

_-"Look, little brother, what you asking for is a lot. Once you get up there, there is not going to be a lot of time to think or act. One mistake, and we may very well lose you or any one of us. That's a lot for you to have on your shoulders, and I just want to make sure you know what you are asking for."-_

Gordon stalked off soon afterwards. Confused, Alan decided to ask his father about it. He didn't want to at first, but his dad finally revealed to Alan that on the day their mother died, they were out searching for Gordon, who had gotten lost during a ski trip. During the searching, one of the mountains unexpectedly unleashed its fury, sending an avalanche of ice and snow down that ended up burying and killing her. Gordon had felt like it was all his fault, regardless of what they did to console him.

Alan went on to prove himself on all four missions, and soon his father gave him permission to go solo. Gordon had congratulated him as well, which meant a lot. He made a promise to Gordon that he would always be there to help, and that he would do his best to stay safe.

And now, when his family needed him, Alan wouldn't be there to help. That's what hurt the most.

He felt hot tears sting eyes. Alan had only cried once before, and that was the day his dad had told him that mom wasn't going to be coming home. After that, he learned to keep much bottled in, and that was probably where that blasted chip on his shoulder came from, as Tin-Tin liked to put it.

And now, his family would probably have another death to mourn.

A moment after he thought it, Alan shook off the thought. The helplessness he was feeling coupled with the diminishing air was leading to some very fatalistic thoughts.

Closing his eyes, he willed himself to relax and finally after a few moments, drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

_Why the interlude? Alan has been trapped in a cave for quite a few hours. I know all too well that being alone with your thoughts can be a double edged sword. They can allow you to relive your joy, your pain, and your sorrow. I thought I would go ahead and show that. Besides, the rest of the brothers Tracy are going to be quite busy next chapter._

_Thanks for the support you guys. Next chapter will be up soon, I promise._

Take care,

Girl-Detective


	5. Time Crunch

_A trap is as only good as the person who makes it. When the Hood makes one though, expect trouble. After all, Scott and Virgil are._

_Let the action resume._

_**The Choice  
**_by Girl-Detective

_**Chapter 5**_ - _Time Crunch_

-_two hours until deadline_-

The malevolent voice sounded through each of their heads.

"Hello, boys. This is the Hood. I do hope you like my trap, because you will not be escaping from it."

Virgil recoiled from the sudden mental intrusion, and gave Scott a weird look.

"This is crazy, did you just hear-"

Scott finished his brother's thought. "-the Hood's voice in my head? Yeah I did."

The Hood laughed as if the whole thing was a normal occurrence. "Odd, your brother didn't think it so strange when I talked to him this way."

Scott flinched, shouting out to the open air. "Where is Alan? If you killed him-"

The Hood replied quickly. "Relax, relax. Do you think I would revoke my deal with your father so easily?"

Virgil grew impatient. "SO what do you have in store for us? What's to stop us from using our ship to blow you out of the water?"

The Hood's voice took on a bemused tone. "Well, for one thing, I don't think you would be that willing to attack one of your own ships, and for another..."

All of a sudden, Thunderbird Two shuddered violently. Scott looked out the cockpit window and realized that they were slowly going towards the ground. "What's happening? We're landing?"

Virgil worked at the flight controls frantically, but to no avail.

"I can't stop it, we are locked out!"

* * *

Jeff sat at his desk in the control room, lost in thought.

Brains had returned to his lab with the promise to find something to counteract his neural net device, and after repeated hails, neither Jeff nor John could not contact Thunderbird Two.

He should have seen this coming. If the Hood was able to trap Alan, he would very well be able to set a trap for the rest of them as well.

Tin-Tin was able to give him some information about the powers that ran in her family, which helped paint a interesting picture: From what she knew, her parents had told her that the incredible gift they were given was passed along to the first-born child of every family in their bloodline. Her uncle had been the first-born in her father's family, and from what he told her, he was already abusing his powers back then.

Not much to go on and with Scott and Virgil in trouble, it had put him off balance.

"Dad, I want to go after Scott and Virgil."

Jeff hadn't heard Gordon enter the room, but he looked up and there he was, standing in front of his desk, looking determined and angry.

He replied calmly. "No can do, Gordon. We need to find out more about what the Hood has planned first."

Apparently Gordon was having none of that. "John told me what was going on. If we wait, he may very well kill them, Alan included. You don't seriously believe that the Hood is going to keep his word, do you?"

Jeff heard the fear and the frustration in his son's voice. "Scott and Virgil have been through some of the toughest of situations and have proven themselves time and again. They can hold their own, Gordon. The best way we can help them right now is to find a way to disable the control device that the Hood is using."

"I don't like it," Gordon declared.

"And you think I do?" His father shot back. "We get distress calls all the time, and we have always acted upon them without a second glance. This is one of the first real times that we have been taken advantage of. Now Scott and Virgil are MIA, and I sent them into there. I am not going to let you get anywhere near that scene without something that will let you all have a fighting chance against the Hood. Do you understand that?"

Gordon was taken aback. He took a step back, eyes wide. "I'm sorry dad, this business has me uneasy...I'll go see if Brains can use some help."

He turned and quickly left the control room.

Jeff breathed a heavy sigh. He couldn't blame Gordon-this whole situation had him uneasy too.

His comm panel began beeping, breaking Jeff from his thoughts. Flicking a switch, he was surprised to see Brains face on the screen "Mr. Tracy..."

Jeff didn't expect to hear from him so quickly. "Brains, what is it?"

Brains replied with excitement. "I-I have an idea, but it is going to t-take time. I'll need h-he-"

Jeff replied eagerly. "You have it Brains. Gordon is coming down to help you now, and if Thunderbird Five can help in any way, do it. There's not much time until the Hood makes his way here, and the less leverage he has, the better. Keep me posted, ok?"

"FAB."

As Brains transmission ended, Jeff turned to stare at the view of the ocean from his window.

There was finally a reason to hope.

* * *

Scott and Virgil looked out the windows helplessly as Thunderbird Two lowered gently to the ground. The computers had even deployed the landing gear and fired the retros.

A textbook landing, Virgil thought ironically, but where was the trap?

He didn't have to wonder for long, for the Hood spoke through their heads once more.

"As now that you are safely on the ground, gentlemen, I shall make this distress call a real one. There are six scientists in the camp I have you parked near. See if you can protect them and your own hides without being able to fly. Good luck, you'll need it."

Scott and Virgil looked at each other as things went silent.

"We better see if we have any control left," Scott stated grimly.

They both checked the instruments, and with the exception of the scanners and the door controls, they were still locked out of the rest of their systems.

It was then that they felt a rumble from in under them.

Virgil looked around at Scott. "Did you feel that?"

Scott nodded. "Yeah. I don't like this at all. That was a seismic occurrence according to the scanners, with only a brief burst of energy beforehand. I also confirmed what he said with the sensors, there are indeed six people in that general area. They won't stand a chance without some help."

Virgil looked around wildly as they felt another rumble. "They would have better luck in here with us. Those buildings out there will fold in a heartbeat, so we don't have much time."

Scott stood quickly. "I'll go round them up, you try to keep reaching dad and the others and see if you can break the Hood's control."

"FAB. Be careful, Scott."

* * *

Scott raided the clothing storage in Thunderbird Two and quickly donned a thermal flight suit along with a heavy jacket, hood, boots, and gloves.

He was thankful that Brains had prepped their weather supplies. In the past, they rarely had rescues in this region, but with the temperature only reaching a brisk -34 degrees Fahrenheit, what winter gear they had was most welcome.

When Scott stepped out into the harsh environment, he made a beeline for the camp.

The rumbling that he had felt in Thunderbird 2 now was intensified under his feet, making the few hundred yards to the camp treacherous. More than once, he stumbled and had to pick himself up as the rumbling increased in frequency.

When he reached the camp, Scott began banging on the cold metal buildings, until he managed to find a building with three of the scientists, where they quickly let him inside.

The building was small and looked to house scanning and heating equipment. Three very confused and very concerned scientists surrounded him. They were dressed in heavy winter gear as well and it looked like they were getting ready to mount a search for something. Various maps were spread out on a small table nearby.

Before they could launch into any major questioning, Scott held up his hands. "There's no time for formal introductions. I am from international Rescue, and we need to get out of here pronto. A series of quakes is set to flatten and bury this area at any moment so we have to move."

One of the men piped up. "Our other three colleagues had went to collect some ice and ground samples about a thousand meters due west from here. When the rumbling started we tried to reach them through their communicators-"

Scott grimaced. The Hood wasn't pulling any punches. "Let me guess, your communicators are jammed, right?"

They nodded solemnly in reply.

Scott hesitated for a moment until a loud rumble reminded him why he was there. The building that they were in shook violently and the machinery sparked from the sudden pressure that the building was putting on it.

There was no time to lose. "Due south about a few hundred yards from here is an international rescue ship. I need you three to head out towards it. There will be someone there to give you a hand onboard. I will find your comrades and join you shortly"  
The ground started to rumble again with a renewed vengeance.

Scott opened the door. "C'mon, get moving! This place is coming apart! Go!"

The scientists took the hint and quickly left the building. Scott followed them out, and made sure they were on their way in the right direction before he turned and headed towards the direction of the rest of the group.

The frozen ground swayed wildly in front of him, and then he heard the sound of an explosion.

Turning around, he saw that building that they had just been in had exploded.

-_No time to lose.-_

Turning, Scott broke into a run. Visibility was ok, so he was able to scan the landscape. He hadn't known how much of a head start the group had, but he was hoping that they had not gotten too far ahead.

The ground vibrated unrelentingly, and cracks were starting to form around him, some small, some as wide as a meter or two. Scott chose his steps carefully, dodging and weaving around the cracks until he spotted the scientists up ahead running towards him. Scott rushed towards them and met with them halfway.

"Come on, we have to get you guys out of here!"

He began leading them through the unstable terrain. They had gone a few hundred meters when all of a sudden, the rumbling intensified sharply, making them stop so they wouldn't fall over-

and that is when the ground opened beneath Scott's feet.

* * *

_Ok, next chapter should be out in about a week or so. Job woes are leaving me cold. Hoping to score interview soon, and my troubles will be over(I hope)!_

_Hope to see you then,_

Girl-Detective


	6. A Plan in the Making

_One of these days, I think someone is going to push me off one of my own cliffhangers. :-P_

_When we left things:_

_Brains had an idea he was working on, Virgil was desperately trying to get the ship to move, and Scott? He was having troubles of his own._

_Time for chapter 6._

_**The Choice**_  
by Girl-Detective

_**Chapter 6**_ - _A Plan in the Making_

There was no time for Scott to react.

He had been leading the last group of scientists to safety when the latest quake opened up the frozen ground wide.

Unfortunately, he was standing over that very patch of ground.

Scott felt himself falling downward until one of the scientists made a leaping dive and caught his arm, stopping his descent further into the newly made hole. The other two scientists surrounded them, and helped pull Scott safely back up to their level on the frozen ground.

Gasping for breath, Scott turned to look at the hole that he was pulled out of. It was the biggest he had seen so far, and looked to be twice as deep. Falling into that could have injured him, or worse.

He turned back to the scientists that had been his rescuers. "Thanks."

"You are welcome," replied the one that caught him. "Am I right in assuming these quakes are man made?"

Scott nodded.

One of the others piped up. "Whoever it is, they must be stopped. If the tremors continue at this rate, the whole of Antarctica will break apart!"

That was the last thing he wanted to hear. They stood a better chance in Thunderbird Two, but they needed to get moving and fast.

Scott motioned on ahead. "What matters now is that we get to a place of safety. Follow me and stick close."

* * *

-_Half hour before deadline_-

when Gordon reached Brains lab, he found the scientist in a state of excitement. His hands worked furiously over the controls of a computer that was near him, and he was relaying numbers to John via a video screen.

He approached Brains. "It looks like you have an idea brewing. How can I help?"

Brains motioned to a nearby chair with a separate video screen. "I-I need you to man t-the comm station while John and I try fr-frequencies. If we can f-find the right one, we can block the d-device the Hood is using, and we will be able to reach Scott and Virgil as well as t-the Hood."

Gordon took the seat eagerly. "Well, let's get to it then."

* * *

Virgil was sweating bullets.

Three of the scientists from the encampment had managed to reach his position, and told him that Scott went to retrieve the other three members of their camp. Virgil helped the scientists inside and got them secured, and then turned his attention back to the sensors and the controls.  
His sensors were telling him little more than he already knew- the mountains of ice and snow surrounding them were becoming more unstable by the minute. Virgil also managed to pick up Scott's position on the scanners, but without communications or the ability to fly, he was of no use. He happened to load the mole onboard before they went searching for Alan, but he doubted that even that would work at this point.

"Th...Bi..2...C...in.."

A burst of static from communication panel. It was the first thing he had heard since the Hood had proclaimed that this was a trap. Virgil turned his attention to the communication panel. He found that the controls still wouldn't respond to him, but whoever was trying to reach him seemed to be working at it, because the static kept changing in pitch.

"Come on...I know someone is trying to get through."

He stared hard at the panel, listening intently until finally a distinct voice came through loud and clear.

"Thunderbird Two come in! If you can hear my voice please respond!"

_-Gordon!-_

Gordon's came through loud and clear, so on a hunch he tried the comm panel one more time.

"This is Thunderbird Two, is that you Gordon?"

Virgil heard a loud whoop issue from the comm panel.

"Virgil, am I ever glad to hear your voice. What's your status?"

"We have been grounded, apparently by the Hood. There has a ton of quakes in the area, and Scott is outside rounding up some scientists being threatened by them," Virgil replied.

Gordon's image finally appeared on the comm screen. "According to Brains, there's a device the Hood has been using to cause those effects on you two, but they have found a jamming frequency. You should be able to take off now, and those quakes should level off."

"Just the words I wanted to hear. These mountains of ice and snow were making me nervous," Virgil said as he started pre-flight checks. This time the controls responded as if nothing happened. "What about the Hood?"

"Now that his influence is gone, the sensors are working again on Thunderbird Five," Gordon stated, "John just told us that the Hood has turned and is plotting a course for our island. You better pick up Scott, get those scientists to safety, and get back here on the double."

"FAB." Virgil replied with enthusiasm. He relayed the news to the scientists on board, then activated his engines for take-off.

* * *

Jeff checked his watch and headed outside towards the launching area for Thunderbird Two.

No time left on the deadline. At least Scott and Virgil were safe, John notified him of that many moments ago. They were in the process of getting the scientists to safety, so there was no worries there. Jeff had one more quick conversation with Tin-Tin and Brains, then had made sure that all of the silos were secured so that the Hood could possibly only land in the area that he was heading towards.

Once he was in place, Jeff settled in to wait, leaning against the rough exterior of the hangar used by Thunderbird Two.

His choice was made, and he only hoped that it was one that he would not regret.

* * *

_-Thirty minutes past deadline-_

Brains and Gordon sat in the lab area, and watched Jeff waiting for the Hood on the video screen.

"Dad can sure come up with the craziest plans," Gordon muttered, "He's been out there a half hour already and the Hood hasn't shown yet."

"He's only g-going by the info he g-got from Tin-Tin," Brains replied. "Your father ordered me to come up with a plan to track the Hood b-but not tell him about it so that's w-what I did."

"But why?" Gordon asked.

The answer came from a distinct feminine voice sounding inside his head. "Because the Hood can get into your head, that's why."

Gordon looked around wildly, leaving Brains puzzled, until he looked over at the doorway and spotted Tin-Tin. "Was that you?"

The young girl nodded, then came over to join them. "My uncle can do that even easier than I can. If you guys had figured out a plan together, he would have probed Mr. Tracy's brain until he found the information."

Gordon shook off the uneasy feeling. "Fair enough, but a little warning next time before you do that, Tin-Tin? It felt like tiny fingers probing in my head and-"

Brains, who was watching the video feed, cut him off. "L-Look!"

They all turned to stare at the video screen as they saw the familiar form of Thunderbird Three come in for a landing.

Jeff watched unmoving as Thunderbird Three came to a stop on Thunderbird Two's take off point.

He decided to let the Hood make the first move, but was surprised when the Hood didn't exit the craft. Instead, Jeff saw the hatch to Thunderbird 3 open and the Hood's voice sounded sharply in his mind.

"Don't just stand there, Jeff, come in. I am here to take you to your son."

_-Walk into my parlor said the spider to the fly.-_ Jeff thought bitterly. He reluctantly walked towards Thunderbird 3 and the open hatch.

* * *

The trio in Brains' lab watched as Jeff climbed through the hatch of Thunderbird 3. The hatch then quickly sealed behind him, and they could hear the whine of the engines as it powered up and took off high into the sky. Brains' hands moved swiftly over the controls of his computer workstation. With a flourish, he executed the commands that he typed in, then smiled as an audible beeping came through the system.

"The signal is coming t-through nicely."

"A tracking signal? All part of the plan you concocted, right?" Gordon asked as he watched line after line of data scroll on the workstation Brains was using.

Brains nodded. "I gave Jeff a watch to wear t-that shields a communicator and a t-transmitter. It uses low level power, so it should go undetected by the Hood."

"Excellent," Gordon proclaimed, "then we have a line to my dad. We just have to use it at the right time."

"We w-will need to k-keep close tabs on the H-Hood. Mr. Tracy stressed that rescuing Alan w-was first priority, and any operation should start once we get a lo-loc- fix on where he is," Brains stated.

Gordon thought for a moment, then contacted Thunderbird Two. The images of Virgil and Scott quickly appeared on the video screen. "Guys, what's your ETA? Dad has already left and we need to get going before the trail gets cold."

Virgil was the one to answer. "About forty five minutes. We ended up dropping the scientists off in Russia and we are just flying back now."

"W-we don't have much time," Brains declared, "from what the tracking signal is indicating, the H-Hood has set his course for somewhere near Malaysia."

"Near Malaysia?" echoed Tin-Tin. "My uncle could be taking Mr. Tracy to where he had his old diamond mine."

"Diamond mine? It's possible. The Hood kept on about how dad left him to die there," Gordon pondered, then posed the question to Scott and Virgil. "What do you think guys?"

"I think it is our best shot," Scott declared, "we are only fifteen minutes away from Malaysia, we can triangulate our position so that we are far away enough from the Hood's detection, and we have the mole on board to go underground if we need to. Gordon, go ahead and take Thunderbird 1 and rendezvous with us. Knowing the Hood, we will probably need all of the help we can get."

Gordon stood quickly. "FAB."

He quickly headed towards the silo for Thunderbird One.

* * *

Jeff sat uncomfortably in the co-pilots seat of Thunderbird 3 and stared at the Hood. He tried to get an idea of where they were going, but the Hood's quick movements over the controls made it almost impossible.

After a few moments, he turned to Jeff with a smile. "Relax, Jeff. Enjoy the ride. We will be back to the beginning of things soon enough."

"'The beginning of things'?" Jeff echoed. "What the hell do you mean by that?"

The Hood chuckled softly and adjusted their speed to a higher setting.

"You'll find out soon enough."

* * *

_Brr. Last chapter is coming soon, and I've got things primed for a Jeff/Hood showdown._

_No promises on when it'll be out unfortunately. There's a hiring freeze for the job I want, and my department is due to downsize soon. -sighs- Things will work out, but it is keeping me busy._

_Thank you guys for the reviews and well wishes. I am hoping I am doing this genre some justice at any rate._

_Till Later,  
Girl-Detective_


	7. Of Angels and Thunderbirds

The scene is Malaysia. Will the Tracys be able to defeat the Hood and save Alan? Read on and see.

It is now time for the final act.

_**The Choice**_  
by Girl-Detective

_**Chapter 7**_ - _Of Angels and Thunderbirds_

Jeff tensed as the Hood landed Thunderbird Three and powered down the engines. He hadn't been able to see where they landed from his vantage point, so he readied himself to expect anything.

The Hood removed his harness then glanced over at him. "Well hurry up. There are places we need to go, people we need to see."

Jeff reluctantly removed his harness and exited out of Thunderbird Three just ahead of the Hood. Stepping down onto the ground, He noted the dense vegetation and trees near him, then turned and noticed the rock formation about a hundred yards down a dirt path flanked with trees.

Something seemed familiar about this place.

The Hood's voice intruded into his thoughts. "Familiar? It should be, Jeff. We are back at the beginning of things, like I promised."

As he took in the scenery, Jeff started to put the pieces together and finally he realized where he was. "This is...where you had your illegal diamond mine. The one that caved in due to your negligence."

The Hood smiled and pointed towards the rock formation. "Bravo. You still remember this place. Now start walking to the mine over there."

He was getting tired of all the ordering around. "I am not going to move until you tell me where my son is."

Almost as soon as Jeff had the words out, he felt a push in his mind, forcing him to stumble towards the direction that the Hood indicated.

"Thanks to the use of the professor's neural net machine, I have only had to use a fraction of my power so far during this little adventure. Even though you found a way to disable it, I am far from tired, and could force you all of the way there if I need to," the Hood said menacingly. "Which way will it be, Jeff?"

Jeff blinked as his mind cleared again. His thoughts were coming rapid fire and the Hood was reading him like an open book. He had to stay calm.

He muttered. "Let's go then."

* * *

In the lab on Tracy Island, Brains typed commands into his computer like a madman, trying to tune into the communicator part of the watch device that he gave Mr. Tracy. Tin-Tin sat dutifully beside him and had not moved since Gordon left out in Thunderbird One for Malaysia.

The watch had been a short notice idea that Mr. Tracy did not know of. He specifically requested it that way so the Hood couldn't pry the information out of him. The watch had been one of Brains first working inventions when he came here, but he had scrapped it when Mr. Tracy insisted on video watches so he would be able to see and hear his boys.

If all worked as he planned, they would be able to listen in on Jeff's side of the conversation and figure out what to do next.

"Almost-"

He tweaked more settings and invented new lines of code, but Brains finally got a feed to the communicator. Sounds of a jungle filtered through the speaker, followed by Jeff's voice.

"Brains you did it!" Tin-Tin congratulated.

"Keep monitoring the t-transmission for me," Brains requested, "I have to get a hold of S-Scott and the others."

Tin-Tin nodded quickly and kept listening in to the transmission as Brains made contact with Thunderbird One and Thunderbird Two on his desktop vid screen.

"Thunderbird One, Thunderbird Two, c-come in."

Both Gordon and Virgil replied quickly, their images appearing onscreen.

"Thunderbird One here, what's up Brains?"

"Thunderbird Two here as well. What's going on?"

Brains smiled triumphantly as he typed a few commands into the screen's built-in keyboard. "I just t-tapped into your f-father's transmission. I am going to patch that f-feed through t-to you."

* * *

"FAB Brains, ready to receive audio feed," Gordon replied.

Gordon had taken Thunderbird One at top speed to Malaysia, and currently held a position a couple of miles from where his dad's signal was coming from. He didn't want to get too close yet until he knew the situation. After adjusting the comm controls he heard both his dad and the Hood having a very heated conversation:

"_Ok, we are here like you wanted. Mind telling me where Alan is so we can get this charade over with?"_

_"Jeff, oh dear Jeff, it's not that simple. You see, I have brought you out here to kill you, but I also want revenge, to make you suffer as I did. You see, Alan is inside the mine, in what was one of the last accessible corridors."_

_"What do you mean, was?"_

_"Handy thing those engines on Thunderbird Three, they were enough to cause a cave-in. Soon after I talked to you I caused a quite a big one. Even if Alan escaped the falling rocks, his oxygen should be running out about now."_

_"No...you monster!...ARRGGHH!..."_

Gordon panicked as the last of the audio transmission was lost in a hiss of static. "Brains! Can you get it back?"

He heard the scientist reply in frustration. "N-no, it m-must have been smashed. The transmitter signal is dead too."

Gordon banged his fist against the comm panel in frustration and growled. "Great, we're blind again! What do we do now?"

* * *

Holding their position a few miles away from Thunderbord One, Scott and Virgil sat stunned on the Thunderbord Two's bridge. They had also heard the short lived conversation between their dad and the Hood and its obvious implications.

"There's no way Alan could have survived," Virgil muttered darkly. "The Hood's won, and he'll probably kill dad too before we can do anything about it."

"Stop it, Virgil," Scott retorted, "we don't have enough info to go on yet."

He then turned to the comm panel to contact Gordon. "Thunderbird Two to Thunderbird One. Gordon, were you listening to that audio feed?"

He heard a strained reply. "I'm here, Scott. Did you hear what the Hood said? What do we do now? The odds seem to be against us."|

Taking an uncertain breath, Scott replied simply. "We can't panic. We've been on rescues like this numerous times in the past, and we can't go simply on the word of a madman. Both Alan and Dad need our help ASAP, so there's no time to lose. Gordon, use your onboard sensors to fix in on Thunderbird Three and land nearby. Find dad and see if there's anyway the Hood can be distracted. Virgil and I will land and use the Mole to find a way into the mine and get Alan out of there."

"FAB," Gordon replied. "Get him out of there safe, okay?"

Scott replied with determination. "Plan on it, and you be careful too."

"FAB"

* * *

Using Thunderbird One's scanners, Gordon found Thunderbird Three and managed to find a place to land nearby. As soon as he disembarked, Gordon quickly spotted footprints in the dirt leading down a path towards a rock formation that had to be the mine.

Gordon swiftly went down the path. Along one side, the path was a series of trees, and he stuck close to them, in case he needed to duck out of sight quickly. After a few yards, he found a clearing.  
He quickly took shelter among the trees and watched as his dad was trying to fight the Hood.

When The Hood had told him that his son was likely dead, Jeff foolishly went with his emotions and tried to throw a punch. For his efforts, he was propelled quickly into a nearby tree and onto the ground. His vision swam, but Jeff knew that had to move quickly if he didn't want to end up like Alan.

He got to his feet and rushed the Hood, hoping to catch him off-balance with a quick attack. If he could just get his hands on him...

He took about five steps before he felt himself lifted high in the air. A vicious twisting then began inside his mind, making him cry out in agony.

Through the haze of pain, he heard the Hood taunt. "Now this looks familiar. I was very near to killing Alan in almost the same way a month ago. Let's see how long you last, Jeff."

The pain in his head intensified. Jeff wasn't sure how much more he could take.

Suddenly he heard a rustling and a loud grunt of pain from the Hood. The control broken, Jeff fell hard to the ground, but it went unnoticed as he tried to shake away the shards of pain in his mind.

He felt a hand on his arm.

"Dad, c'mon we've gotta move!"

Jeff recognized Gordon's voice, and followed his lead as they dived deep into the cover of the trees.

When they finally stopped, Jeff slumped to the ground. The pain from the Hood's attack was receding,  
but the doubt in his heart wasn't he felt as if he let his children down somehow.

He felt his son put a hand on his face. "Dad are you okay?"

Jeff nodded. "Where are the others?"

Gordon caught his breath before he replied. "Scott and Virgil are using the mole to get into the old mine. Brains planted a communicator on you before you left, so we heard what he said. I am here to help you while they mount a rescue."

Jeff stood. "Let's go to the mine then, they will need our help."

"Dad, please," Gordon protested, "Scott and Virgil are getting Alan now. If we leave the Hood to his own devices he may try to interfere with the rescue and that'll put them in danger. Besides, there is a good chance Alan is alive."

Jeff thought for a moment. He wanted so much to be in on the rescue, but the immediate danger they were in needed to be taken care of. "You're right. We have to keep separated though, attack him from two fronts. That'll keep the Hood on his toes and hopefully tire him out faster."

Gordon nodded. "I'll go around to the side."

Jeff stood. "And I'll go head on. We've have to wear him down or we are lost. Let's go."

They split up and rushed into the clearing.

On the opposite side of the mine, Virgil landed Thunderbird 2 and made preparations to unload the Mole. Scott checked the scanners, then tried to get interior readings of the mine. The readings indicated a corridor a couple of yards long. There was some distortion that he couldn't clear, so he wasn't able to pick up on any signs of life.

Scott heard Virgil come up behind him. "The Mole is on the ground, Scott. What do the scanners say?"

He sighed in reply. "Not much, I'm afraid. I do read an open corridor but there's too much distortion to get any life signs."

"We'll have to make do then," Virgil replied, "Feed the sensor readings to the GPS in the mole and then meet me in the mole. We'll make sure to come up on one of the far ends of that corridor."

"FAB"

Scott sent the scanner readings to the mole and then followed Virgil. The exited the ship, and made their move to board the mole. The last time it had been used, The Hood used it to break into the Bank of London. With any luck, they will be able to use it to rescue their brother.

The outer hull of the Mole glistened Yellow in the sun as they both entered in through the top airlock. Scott made sure that two sets of oxygen equipment was at the ready, then took a seat beside Virgil, who was at the main controls.

"Everything's ready. Let's go," Scott commanded.

"FAB" Virgil replied. Using the GPS coordinates, he plotted the course and activated the drill head. The back hydraulic lifts lifted, allowing them the proper angle to dig into the ground.

After a few moments, they felt themselves proceeding down. Virgil lowered the lifts, then pressed forward on the controls

"We are on our way"

Jeff and Gordon rushed into the clearing on opposite sides, and saw the Hood standing in the middle wearing a bemused expression.

"Well, Jeff, I see you have brought one of your sons with you. Back for more punishment?"

Jeff looked over at his son who was standing a few feet away. "We have had enough of your games,  
Hood. We will take you down and that is a promise."

"Ah two against one. Such fair odds," the Hood sneered.

Jeff signaled to Gordon, and they rushed at him simultaneously.

The Hood managed to dodge Gordon, and then unleashed a mental assault on Jeff that flung him to the ground.

After a few minutes of digging, Virgil checked the sensors and the coordinates.

"Okay we are in position. I've got us positioned at one end of the corridor. If you exit the airlock, you should be able to walk straight in, Scott."

Scott got to his feet and grabbed the oxygen equipment. He one of the oxygen masks over his face,  
made sure the airflow was good and then grabbed the other one and entered the airlock at the rear of the vehicle.

"Ok, I am ready. Open the outer hatch."

"Oxygen levels in there are almost non-existent. Be careful, Scott."

Scott tensed slightly as he heard a hiss, then the door that was in front of him slid open, revealing an eerie darkness.

Turning on the floodlight built into the top of his mask, he could barely make anything out more than a foot in front of him. Climbing out and onto the ground, he treaded slowly, making sure he swept all possible corners of the passage.

After about another yard, Scott found him slumped against one of the walls. Seeing no visible sign of movement from Alan, he dropped his equipment and rushed forward.

Scott flinched when he saw how pale his brother was. There was trickle of dried blood on the side of Alan's head, along with a large knot where something must have struck him. His brother's wrists were also badly scraped and infected from what he could tell. Nervously, he checked Alan's neck for a pulse and was relieved to find a steady but slow rhythm. He had to get Alan on oxygen and fast.

Grabbing the extra oxygen mask he brought, Scott leaned over and fitted it over Alan's head, making sure that a flow of oxygen was started.

He watched intently for any response.

_C'mon little brother, come back to us.

* * *

_

Alan Tracy dreamed of angels and Thunderbirds.

In the back of his mind he knew it was silly nonsense, but that didn't matter. It was his favorite dream, because he would always get to see his mom, flying with beautiful white angel wings and a golden Halo. He would get to fly beside her in any of the Thunderbirds he chose, which this time he chose Thunderbird 3. He got into the cockpit and took off soaring into the clouds.

This time though, he could sense a difference with the dream. when he looked out of the cockpit, he couldn't find his mother anywhere.

"Wake up Alan."

A whisper of a voice. He turned around to find the source of it and was surprised to find his mom sitting beside him. She looked sad, but no mistaking it- she was the one who spoke.

"You have to wake up now!"

Alan's eyes flew open. He sat up, gasping and coughing, and found that an oxygen mask had been placed over his face. Looking up through the gloom, he saw Scott standing over him, wearing oxygen gear of his own.

His brother leaned down and put a hand on his shoulder. "Easy does it, little brother. Take long, deep breaths."

Alan did as he was told, and soon pure oxygen was filling his lungs. It had felt so good after all of those hours with stale air.

Scott looked relieved. "We've got to get you out of here. Do you think you can stand?"

Alan slowly shook his head. He didn't even have the strength to lift his arms right now, let alone stand.

Scott leaned down and grabbed him under the shoulders. He lifted him to a standing position,  
then wrapped a supporting arm under Alan's shoulder blades. With some effort, Scott was able to drag him the distance to the mole. Opening the airlock, Scott dragged him inside where Virgil was waiting.

"Scott, you found him. Damn, he looks in bad shape."

Scott removed his mask. "His pulse was extremely slow, but he's responding to the oxygen. Help me strap him in and we will get him out of here."

Virgil helped Scott bring Alan over to one of the seats and strapped him in.

After stowing away his oxygen equipment, Scott rejoined Virgil in the cockpit of the mole.

"Okay, let's get out of here," Scott stated, "We have to check on Gordon and Dad."

"FAB" Virgil replied. He started the controls, and proceeded to drill a way out through the opposite direction.

* * *

The fight wasn't going as well as Jeff hoped. Every move that he and Gordon made was easily being countered by the Hood.

He would either repel them with his mental power, or unleash a series of martial arts moves that kept them at bay. One of those was a high kick that sent Gordon sprawling to the ground at the Hood's feet.

Gordon got to his feet unsteadily and faced him. "Well, it seems that the great 'Hood' can do more than hide behind his mind tricks."

"Boy," the Hood growled, "you try my patience."

In horror, Jeff watched as the Hood waved his hands sharply. Gordon seemed to be picked up like a rag doll then was quickly flung through the trees and disappeared from view.

"Gordon!"

Winded, the Hood turned to stare at Jeff. "Really now, your family is like an annoying bunch of gnats, but I will kill you all, even if I have to do it one by one."

Jeff had enough. He couldn't lose another son to this maniac. He rushed the Hood and managed to get in a solid uppercut. The Hood staggered, but remained standing, trying to shake off the effects.

Gordon slowly stood from his vantage point, and regained his senses. He had been propelled quite a few yards away, and counted himself lucky that he wasn't hurt worse than his throbbing head.

"Gordon!"

Hearing the voice, he turned to find Scott running towards him.

"Scott, is everything ok? Is Alan-"

"He's alive, Gordon. We've got to him in time. What about you and dad?"

He looked back towards the clearing. "He's still fighting with the Hood. Follow me."

Gordon took off running back towards the clearing with Scott hot on his heels. -  
There wasn't a moment to lose. If he gave the Hood time to recover, he would just use his mind powers again. Blind with anger, Jeff launched himself at the Hood, taking him down to the ground. Jeff began punching him relentlessly.

After a few moments, Jeff felt hands restraining him. Gordon and Scott's voices broke through the haze of his anger.

"Dad, no!"

"He's done. Dad, You've beaten him. Alan is alive."

Breathing heavily, Jeff hesitated. The Hood laid on the ground out cold. He felt no mental intrusions, felt no movement to indicate that the Hood may be hiding something-just the regular rise and fall of his chest to indicate that he was still breathing.

Jeff had never intentionally killed a man before, and he wasn't about to start now. He stood, then looked to his sons, whose faces were a mix of worry and concern.

He felt as if a great weight was lifted from his mind. "Alan is alive?"

Scott nodded. "He needs medical attention, so we better move."

Jeff quickly forced himself back in control of his emotions. "Scott, I want you in Thunderbird 1 to take the Hood and drop him off with the Malaysian authorities. Warn them about his power so they can take precautions. Gordon, use Thunderbird 3 and fly escort with him, then both of you return home. I will go with Virgil in Thunderbird 2 to take Alan to the hospital."

"FAB," Gordon replied, motioning to Scott. "Let's go."

As soon as Scott and Gordon secured the Hood and took him away, Jeff ran the distance over to Thunderbird 2 and boarded just as Virgil was loading the mole on board.

Virgil saw him and gave him a hug. "Dad...I am glad you are ok."

Jeff felt the tension of his earlier confrontation starting to wane. "As am I. How's Alan?"

Virgil sighed. "Weak and worked over. I have him already strapped in. The Hood did quite a number on him. It looks like he may have a concussion, and the skin around his wrists is badly torn. We were just in time, dad. Another hour and he would have been-"

His voice trailed off, but Jeff knew full well what his son meant.

Jeff stepped into the cockpit and found Alan strapped securely into one of the seats. He was pale, eyes closed, and had an oxygen mask strapped to his face. The wounds on his sons head and wrists only served to stoke his anger, but he was thankful that Alan was alive.

Virgil soon came in behind him. "We need to get going, Dad. Better strap in."

Jeff turned and took a seat beside Alan. "Right. Get us of here, Virgil."

Virgil took the pilot's seat, quickly making his preflight checks. Once clear, he started the engines and quickly lifted off.

As the scenery of the old diamond mine faded from view, Jeff settled back. This was one chapter of his life that he hoped was closed for good. Looking over at Alan, he remembered that day in Jubilee Gardens when he told his son that there were some situations where you couldn't save everyone, even if it was someone you loved.

He was thankful that this wasn't one of them.

_

* * *

A few hours later-_

Jeff sat in a chair beside Alan's hospital bed and watched him sleep. Alan was hooked up to an oxygen machine, and large white bandages covered his wrists and head, which served as grim reminders of what he had been through in the past hours.

After Alan was checked over and cleaned up, the doctor wanted to keep him under observation for twenty four hours due to the concussion he had sustained. Jeff opted to stay with him,  
sending Virgil home to update Scott and the others.

"Dad?"

Alan opened his eyes and stared up at him.

Jeff smiled. "Alan. Good to see you awake. How are you feeling, son?"

His son groaned slightly. "Like I have been trampled on. Everyone else ok? What about the Hood and-"

"Whoa, hold it," Jeff protested, "No questions will be answered until you get your rest. Doctors orders."

Alan gave a tired smile and closed his eyes. "FAB. You know, mom was watching out for me in the cave. She made me wake up after I fell asleep. It's almost as if she knew"  
Moments later, he drifted slowly back into unconsciousness.

Jeff watched him for quite some time before he yawned and realized that the events of the past hours had caught up with him as well.

He looked skyward for a moment. "We've got some great kids, you know. I wish you were here to see it but then again, you have been watching over us all along, haven't you?"

But somehow, Jeff felt that he already knew the answer to that question.

Leaning heavily into the chair he was in, Jeff closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

**The End**

* * *

**_This was fun. I can see where I have made some blunders along the way, but overall a good learning experience. If you have made it to the end of the ride, I hope that you have enjoyed it. Thank you guys very much for making me feel welcome here, and thanks for the feedback._**

**_Now to get my career back in order. -Groan.-_**

**_Until we meet again,_**

**_Girl-Detective_**


End file.
